About Me

Like a lot of people I used to think my body was there to carry my brain around and I didn’t pay too much attention to it especially in my teens and very early 20s. As I began my teaching career in Further Education I noticed my knees were particularly painful when walking or running. Around this time I also developed lower back ache which seemed to appear around 4am, while lying in bed asleep so that when I got up in the mornings I’d suffer for a couple of hours until I ‘got going’ when the stiffness would disappear, until around 4am the next morning.

As time went on I changed jobs to do a short stint as an Advisory Teacher, followed by taking up a post working on sustainability and climate change with a local authority. I was the kind of person who put 110% into everything I did with the attendant migraines brought on by stress and pressure of work. I had at least a couple of migraines every week, not the flashing lights and distorted vision types, but severe enough to make me feel sick and occasionally have to leave work early. And I used to ‘eat’ painkillers to try to alleviate the shocking pain.

I first heard of the Alexander Technique in the early 1990s when a friend mentioned that he’d researched it as a way of improving his public speaking. Always interested in ways I could improve myself I decided to do more reading about the Technique. I read Wilfred Barlow’s book: The Alexander Principle and Michael Gelb’s: Body Learning.

I decided to have weekly Alexander lessons and was astonished to note that after about 3 sessions the migraines disappeared altogether. My knee pain also reduced and my backache also disappeared and hasn’t returned to date. No more painkillers!

I loved my job working in a local authority but decided that one day I would become an Alexander Technique teacher, so when I applied to do the AT training at Manchester Alexander Technique Training School (MATTS), none of my friends or relatives was surprised.

Since then, I’ve never looked back. I reckon the Alexander Technique has given me a 20-year extra life-span, improving my fitness and health.

My interests include singing, music and walking in the countryside. I live in Nottingham with my partner.

I have a Bachelor of Education degree (B.Ed) and I am a qualified and experienced teacher, registered with the Department for Education. I also have a Master of Science (M.Sc) degree and I am a qualified Alexander Technique teacher and registered as a Member of the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (MSTAT).

I am also registered with the Disclosure and Barring Service at enhanced level (formerly the Criminal Records Bureau).